"I'm anything but happy. The team didn't meet the expectations or the requirements. We wanted to continuously occupy the final third, but that wasn't what happened, particularly in the second half. It's always important to stay wide and stretch games like these. We went central too often. We wanted to produce some quick interplay and combinations, but we didn't do that. The match against Spain will certainly ask different things of us compared to tonight against Gibraltar. We obviously want to have a positive end to the World Cup winning year." - from dfb.de

I am not pleased because winning 4-0 is not enough and we scored too few goals. I expected more from the team, especially in the second half. In the first period we at least created chances, but after the interval we hardly had any. We lacked pace, stopped running and failed to pose big questions for our opponents. That's why I have to say that I am not pleased with the performance and the result.I am seriously pondering a few changes in the new year, which is fundamental for our development. You can see that some players may be quite happy when this World Cup year is over. We have had the problems we expected and we are not where we want to be in the European Qualifiers.Given the pressure you feel before a World Cup, even six months beforehand, it's no surprise that the intensity is dropping for some players. When things start again after the winter break, then I am sure the players will be fit again, physically and mentally. I had expected more from the one or two players who got a chance today - more danger in front of goal, more shots. In the first half we played a fast, positional game, but in the second we too often tried our luck through the centre.I was not really impressed by Gibraltar. I have seen that they have learned how to defend over the course of the past few games. They always play like this. They are getting better in their defending the longer they are playing together, but had we played to our full capacity then Gibraltar would have conceded more goals.

"I think there were a lot of award ceremonies and celebrations," Löw said after spending much of the week with the team in Berlin, honoured by the country's president and attending a World Cup movie premiere."Now we need to get all of this out of our heads at the end of this World Cup year, draw a line and prepare properly for our next tournament.""We did not hold our positions. True it is not always easy when you have some many people at the back. There was little space but that's where we have to have a high tempo.""There you need one-on-one situations but we instead stopped and played the ball back.""At times there were 18 players in that middle. For some players I expected a lot more," said Löw."A stronger drive towards goal, more finishes because our opponent did not do much else except wait at the edge of the box. We need to be able to solve these things better."

"There are lots of memories and festivities, but we have to let these go at the end of this year and draw a line under it. Some players will be happy when this World Cup year is done with. It will be a bit too expected that excitement drops somewhat after this massive success and the players will get a little tired in their heads. I previously expected that this would happen. Players will be physically and mentally fresher in the New Year after the winter break and three weeks of preparation, I'm convinced."Asked about Lukas Podolski, Jogi said "I'm also aware that it's tough for him to play 90 minutes at a high tempo, that's the way it is. Lukas just needs lots of game time, he has the quality. He hasn't had that game time in the last six months. He didn't play enough at the World Cup and after that too. For this reason, I can't throw any criticism at him. But we and he have to think about what next year will bring for him."

Keine schmerzfreie Zeit für DFB Team - 16 November 2014Jogi speaks to ZDF, where he reveals he has been suffering from tooth problems! I believe the interview was taken on Thursday, but is interspersed with post-match comments.

Christoph Kramer has been ruled out of Germany's European Championship qualifier against Gibraltar and the friendly against Spain due to a back injury and will return to his club for treatment, said dfb.de Friday afternoon, 14 November 2014.

"We are not satisfied, neither me, nor the team because we have too few points," Löw told reporters on Thursday."There will be many attacking players on the pitch tomorrow. We don't need four defenders at the back. We need players to set the tone up front," he added.

"We do not talk about records. If we play our game tomorrow as we expect then we will score several goals. How many goals, I don't know but we want a big score, worthy of a World Cup winner.""We were given this cloud of invincibility after the World Cup but crashed back down hard on reality," he said."We are and will remain the world champions. But we have to learn to leave the past in the past. We have to be in the here and now and drive things forward in the coming months."

"We want to score a lot of goals," he added. "If we play the way we want to, Gibraltar will allow us many chances.""The emotions and the intensity at a big tournament are high. It is normal to slow down a bit afterwards. But now we have to get back to our routine. Most players are still young and want to win more titles. Players like Jerome Boateng and Mario Gotze are full of ambition.""We saw at the World Cup that our style of play worked fine. We won the cup playing this way. After such a great triumph you have to change to stay successful. We also have to change to develop further. Football changes constantly. We've been thinking about that the last days and weeks." - from goal.com

"It's in my plans that Podolski will play from the start," Low told reporters. "I'm aware he doesn't play a lot right now for Arsenal. He needs to play competitive games. Sometimes he lacks the physical condition to play the full 90 minutes."He has to think about his situation. I'm still convinced about his abilities, but he needs high intensity."

Other points:- Qualification programme is set as it is, not decided by them. Cannot change it.- Bringing in new formations. Possibly once or twice with a 3-5-2.

Löw, "I plan on starting Podolski" - a summary of the press conference from dfb.de.Jogi also spoke of Monday night "It was a nice event on Monday with the Federal President (the team were awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf at Bellevue Palace.) But the past stays in the past, we must live in the here and now. We realise that we must make progress over the next few months."

Other personnel issues:Andre Schürrle - "Schürrle has been ill over the last few weeks with flu. He has tried to train as much as possible. But he said that he is knackered and therefore we decided over the phone that André should stay in London to get better as his health is more important."Sami Khedira - "Sami Khedira also hasn't had much match practice. But nevertheless, he is a player that can be used in a variety of ways. We could possibly use him in a more attacking role because I saw in the semi-final against Brazil at the World Cup that he got forward quite often."

The winter break will be used for a period of analysis and changes will be made:Joachim Löw denkt schon an 2015"Football is constantly being developed and we have to also develop at the same time. We were strong in our ideas at the World Cup as to how we wanted to play football. But we have to incorporate a few things into our game to help us develop, especially in the direction of EURO 2016. We want to be challenging for the title there too. But obviously, we'll have to qualify first."

The team met up in Berlin. Monday 10 November, for a day of events taking them back to their glorious summer - the presentation of the Silver Laurel Leaf from President Joachim Gauck, receiving their FIFA badges from Sepp Blatter (see my November 2014 Archive Page for more on both) and later on that evening red carpet premiere of their World Cup documentary, full coverage of which you can find on my special 'Die Mannschaft' page.

Schürrle bleibt in London - 9 November 2014Andre Schürrle will not be joining the squad in Germany. After consultation with his club Chelsea, he will remain in London to allow him to fully recover from his recent illness.

The only newcomer to the squad is Cologne's Jonas Hector, while Marco Reus, Sami Khedira, Lars Bender and Benedikt Höwedes return after injuries. Striker Kevin Volland is recalled for the first time since May.

"We go into the fixtures with a big squad and hope to end the season on a high. We want to beat Gibraltar in front of own fans in European Championship qualifying and the friendly against Spain - current European Champions and former World Champions - will be a special occasion."

"We want to get to know Jonas Hector better; he's in good form for Cologne," coach Joachim Löw said."Kevin Volland has performed well for Hoffenheim and the U21s so deserves a call-up," Löw told the German Football Association (DFB) website. "The returns of Marco Reus, Sami Khedira, Benedikt Höwedes and Lars Bender are good for the team as, despite their age, they are experienced internationals.""We will need to concentrate against Gibraltar and take the game seriously," Löw said. "We know we are clear favourites and we want to show we are worthy of the tag."